When I started college at the age of 17, I barely weighed 110 pounds, a prime candidate for a coxswain. Not knowing any better, I joined the crew, and coxed eight oared shells for two years until I grew out of competitive weight. The experience taught me a lot: about responsibility, about teamwork, swimming (a safety requirement), and a love of rowing that has persisted to this day. I tried joining a rowing center, but it was always too far, and didn't allow me to to take it with me. I always wanted my own boat, but could never justify the expense. Until I had a better idea.
A number of years ago I bought a canoe to satisfy my desire to be on the water. I chose a 16-1/2' Bell Northstar in a 46 pound Kevlar and carbon fiber layup Bell calls blackgold. Light enough to be handled by one person, fast and maneuverable, the Northstar is one of the premier canoes currently made by one of the best canoe manufacturers around. The idea to set up the Northstar for rowing came to me while surfing the Piantedosi website. Piantedosi is primarily known for making drop-in rowing rigs for kit built shells, like the Annapolis Wherry or Oxford Shell from Chesapeake Light Craft. As the Piantedosi site expains, Row Wings can be used in a canoe almost as easily as a shell, with the advantage that one can take passengers in a canoe. I added a search for Piantedosi to my e-Bay favorites, and sat back to wait.
Eventually I found a Row Wing, with oars, and bought them all for about half the price of new. Now I had to figure out how to mount the Wing to the canoe. I wanted a configuration that would allow me to easily install and remove the Wing so that I could continue to use the canoe for paddling trips, and eventually set it up for sailing. My final decision was to epoxy a pair of 7' T-tracks to the bottom of the canoe. The long mating surface would spread the load of any addition, and allow flexible positioning along the length of the canoe.
The aluminium feet that came with the Row Wing didn't fit my canoe, so the next step was to fabricate a pair of supports that would position the Wing at the right height. Needing some practice with laminating, I decided to laminate them from oak veneers. I used a Woodslicer blade on my 14" bandsaw to slice 3/4"x3-1/2" oak flooring into 1/8" thin veneers, and cut a mold from 4"x12" header stock. My first attempt to laminate the support showed 1/8" to be too thick to take the curve without breaking, so I cut more veneer at a little over 1/16" thick and tried again. It is important that the forms fit snugly to the final shape to prevent gaps from opening between the veneers. It is also important to wrap the piece in wax paper or plastic wrap to prevent epoxying the piece permanently into the form. The final products were trimmed, drilled, and epoxy coated to make the final supports. The supports are attached to the T-track with stainless steel bolts and knobs to allow repositioning as needed. I had to "invert" the kneeling thwart to project above the rail instead of drop below it, in order to gain enough clearance for my legs and feet.
"Sea trials" were held on the Russian River above Steelhead Beach. The 9' oars give amazing leverage and allow one oarsman to easily navigate the current, even with passengers. Taking my daughter along for ballast and possible first aid (she is EMT qualified), we rowed upstream until we were blocked by a weir just downstream of Wohler Bridge. The only difficulties encountered where the necessity to watch out for streamside vegetation (because of the 18' span of the canoe, with oars), and the shallowness of the river. In a number of places the water was barely deep enough to float the canoe, but fast enough to make progress difficult as the oars kept striking bottom without catching water. I finally came on the solution of getting out, and walking the canoe upstream through these sections. After our excursion I found that the lower edges of the oar blades had been badly chewed by the rocks.
River access is as important for me as open water rowing, so I needed to repair the oars in manner that would protect them from future damage. I sanded the edges smooth, and decided to laminate 3" wide Kevlar tape along the blade edges to give them additional strength and protect from them from nicks and splits. Working with Kevlar is similar to working with fiberglass fabric, except that it can't be cut with scissors or a hot knife. Rough cuts can be made with sharp and close fitting tin-snips, but final trimming is easiest done with a sharp razor after it has been impregnated with epoxy and has hardened. Sanding (after lamination) will only fray the edges of the fabric. I'm considering painting the blades to disguise the Kevlar additions, with gloss black lowers and yellow-gold uppers.
The next improvement is the addition of rear-view mirrors on 12" stalks (motorcycle type) so that I can see where I'm going when I'm by myself. After the success of this modification I'm working on the design for my next: a lateen sailing rig for the canoe, complete with leeboards. I'll be sure to let you know how that one goes.
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